“As to what pertains to the case of infants: You [Fidus] said that they ought not to be baptized within the second or third day after their birth, that the old law of circumcision must be taken into consideration, and that you did not think that one should be baptized and sanctified ...
Having grown up going to church, this Jesus he found in the Bible was nothing like the Christians he was used to. His life was transformed. He saw Jesus as a friend of sinners who valued relationships above everything else, and he began to try to live as Jesus did. In the first...
We can only have an Advent calendar for the first Advent. We cannot count down to an unknown date and time. However, we can be ready for the second Advent. And how can we accomplish this? 1. Make sure you are a true disciple. First, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and, as Acts...
Although many in the senior generation believe in the wrathful God of the Old Testament, I found the junior generation to be open to a God who is kind, understanding, and loving. Still, the essential teaching remains clear, as it did for the early Christians: one must be ever “vigilant...
As a Roman historian, Tacitus did not have any Christian biases in his discussion of the persecution of Christians by Nero, says Ehrman. “Just about everything he says coincides—from a completely different point of view, by a Roman author disdainful of Christians and their superstition—with...
I might say “Since I believe in a perfect Creator, I am convinced a Creator loves the way their creations know how they ought to love one another.” The challenge though is that even Christians don’t agree what God’s perfect love is like. We don’t have to all agree whose image ...
Christians honor the 40 days and nights following Christ’s baptism when He went into the wilderness without water and food and was tempted by Satan. During that time, Christ did what we do today when we fast: wrestle with temptation. This was not the first fast; biblical figures often fas...
The Old Testament’s condemnation of usury also led to the Christian tradition against money lending. Some Christians believe that those who lend should not expect anything in return. The Protestant Reformation in the 16th century brought about a distinction between usury (charging high-interest rates...
I am not trying to argue those things or what Christians believe, the ideas just don’t compute for me. There are plenty of very nice things within Christianity that I think are good, and I could name many Christians who I know or who I have observed who are amazing in their view of...
How did one of the most important days in the Christian calendar get scrambled up with colored eggs? Easter, commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, is often celebrated in March or April. Easter is observed on the first Sunday after t...